Jharkhand Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto, who underwent lung transplant at a Chennai-based hospital in November last year after battling Covid-19, returned home in a charter flight on Monday after eight months of treatment in the Tamil Nadu capital.
Two doctors from the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi, Dr. PK Bhattacharya and Dr. Ajit Dungdung, went to Chennai on Monday morning to review Mahto’s condition and returned along with him in the charter flight by evening.
Mahto’s flight took off from the Chennai Airport at 5pm on Monday and landed in Ranchi at around 7.30pm.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Agriculture Minister Badal gave a warm welcome to Mahto at the Birsa Munda Airport. Earlier in the day, Hemant visited Mahto’s Doranda-based residence in the state capital and checked all the arrangements made for the education minister. Hemant also inspected the medical equipment at the minister’s residence and directed the concerned staff members to take all possible precautions for Mahto’s safety.
Dr. Suresh Rao, who was a part of the team that carried out Mahto’s lung transplant in Chennai, said that Mahto was fit to resume work and attend assembly sessions in Jharkhand.
“He is fit to attend assembly sessions and do his work now. The infection that he developed in his lung is gone and he will be able to lead a healthy and active life now on,” said Dr. Rao, Co-Director, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support at MGM Chennai.
Mahto, who tested positive for Covid-19 on September 28 last year, underwent treatment in different hospitals over a period of several months. Soon after testing positive, he was admitted to state-run RIMS in Ranchi. On October 1, 2020, he was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital in the state capital and put on non-invasive ventilation. However, his condition further deteriorated and he had to be flown to Chennai in an air ambulance on October 19.
The 54-year-old MLA from Dumri was put on a life support system called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for around three weeks at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Healthcare in Chennai before he underwent a lung transplant surgery on November 10.
However, Mahto’s problems did not seem to end there. He was discharged from the hospital on February 8, but he returned with complains of chest pain and congestion. He developed an infection on the wall of his chest and had to be on high dose antibiotics at the MGM Hospital for months.
